V I RT U A L W O R L D S F O R
3 D V I S U A L I S AT I O N S
J O H A N N A P I R K E R , C H R I S T I A N G Ü T L
J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U
G R A Z U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y
D I S C U S S I O N I D E A S A N D T R E N D S
I L R N 2 0 1 5
@ J O E Y P R I N K

A D VA N C E D M O T I VAT I O N A L M E D I A
T E C H N O L O G I E S G R O U P
• Games and Gamification
• Gaming tools and components
• e-Education and e-Assessment
• Virtual learning environments
• Automated assessment tools
• Multimedia IR and NLP
• Access to learning repositories
• Pre-processing of content
• Social Network and Media Analysis
• Social Network and Data Technologies
• Digital Libraries
• Open Content
• Virtual Environments & Setups
• Virtual 3D World Infrastructure
• End device (immersive … mobile)

M O T I VAT I O N : V R F O R E V E RY O N E

I M M E R S I V E 3 D V I S U A L I S AT I O N S . .
• … to visualise objects and environments
• … to create emotions
• … to simulate activities
• … to make unseen things seen
• … to teach
• … to raise awareness
• … to show off
• …

V I S U A L E X P E R I E N C E S &
O B J E C T / E N V I R O N M E N T V I S U A L I S AT I O N S

C R E AT E E M O T I O N S

http://jpirker.com/run/
• Split-screen game designed to create the emotion you
had while playing tag - fun, hiding, fear, running,
excitement..

Frauenhofer Graz, http://www.cgv.tugraz.at/Dave

S C I E N T I F I C V I S U A L I S AT I O N S

S U P P O R T U N D E R S TA N D I N G O F
C O M P L E X C O N C E P T S

M A K E T H E U N S E E N S E E N .
or..

U N D E R S TA N D I N G C O M P U T E R S C I E N C E -
S I M U L AT I N G S O R T I N G A L G O R I T H M

V I R T U A L W O R L D S F O R L E A R N I N G
P H Y S I C S W I T H P H Y S I C S S I M U L AT I O N S

L E A R N I N G & W O R K I N G I N V W S
• Provision of different communication channels (verbal & non-verbal)
• Activity-based interactions support the motivation and autonomy of
the users
• Increased social awareness
• Feeling of presence in the virtual environment
• Awareness of other avatars, the environment
• Belonging to a social community which creates a virtual social space
• Facilitated collaboration through different tools
• Visualizations and simulations of learning content via 2d and 3d
artifacts
• Personal motivation through active participation and co-creation of
the world

I N F O R M AT I O N V I S U A L I S AT I O N

I N F O R M AT I O N V I S U A L I S AT I O N I S
B E A U T I F U L
!

• Data analysis
• Explore data
• Gain new insights
• “Data is the new oil”
• “Let my dataset change your mindset.”
• …

I N F O R M AT I O N V I S U A L I S AT I O N I S
I M M E R S I V E
?

• The experience of standing in the center of the
pollution data mapping instead of looking at a bar
chart

• (a) advantages and disadvantages compared to other
visualisation methods such as 2D map based
visualisations
• (b) would users like to walk through visualisations
• (c) does the immersive character change the user’s
perception of the visualisation
• (d) would users benefit from the collaborative multi-
user capabilities.
R E S E A R C H Q U E S T I O N S

S U M M A RY
• Visualisation for discovery and understanding
• 3D Visualisations can support other forms of emotions,
understanding, learning, and analysing
• VR, new forms of haptic interfaces, and 3D Web is coming
• 3D worlds support interactive, collaborative, and
immersive simulations
• Other insights and new forms of analysis compared to 2D
• Web-browser data visualisations (e.g. Unity)

S U M M A RY
• Identify good & reasonable visualisation opportunities
• Still complicated & more expensive compared to 2D
• Target group?
• VR, new forms of haptic interfaces, and 3D Web is
coming -> we still wait
• Should provide new insights and not new challenges

T H A N K Y O U F O R Y O U R
AT T E N T I O N .
J O H A N N A P I R K E R , J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U , W W W. J P I R K E R . C O M , @ J O E Y P R I N K